Policy
Service leaders beg for flexibility as full-year continuing resolution looms
Without a new budget—or relief from the strictures of its absence—the military can’t start new projects or pay for the unexpected.
Policy
Confusion, fear as changes whipsaw Defense workforce
Workforce cuts, travel freezes, and administrative burdens are leaving civilians shaken.
Policy
‘5 bullet points’ email now a weekly task for Pentagon civilians
A short explanation of recent achievements is due every Tuesday, SecDef says in additional guidance.
Policy
Pentagon is placing probationary employees on leave in advance of mass firings
The terminations are expected within weeks under plans to fire nearly one-tenth of DOD’s 55,000 “probies.”
Policy
Pentagon freezes government credit cards in DOGE cost-savings push
All non-essential official travel reservations for civilians must be canceled, per a March 5 memo.
Policy
SECNAV nominee: Trump wants ‘shipbuilding, shipbuilding, shipbuilding’
Investor John Phelan wants to apply his business experience to the ailing defense industrial base, as Pentagon looks at cutting civilian shipyard personnel.
Policy
Army vet Driscoll confirmed as service secretary
Financier comes on board as military reels from firings of top officers, lawyers.
Policy
Pentagon brings right-wing podcaster on board to run digital media
Graham Allen’s hiring comes as DOD looks to lay off tens of thousands of employees and freeze hiring to cut costs.
Policy
Pentagon to fire up to 61,000 workers, starting with 5,400 next week
After the first round of firings, DOD will launch a review intended to cut the civilian workforce by 5 to 8%, a personnel official said.
Policy
As Defense preps for mass firings, Hegseth says a hiring freeze and more firings are coming
SecDef says a "reevaluation of our probationary workforce" will be followed by wider dismissal of "redundancies" and "underperformers."
Threats
Ukraine’s ‘super soldiers’ bust stereotypes of what ‘lethal’ looks like
The Ukrainian battlefield has also forced a rethinking of the role of tanks, experts say
Policy
Stop treating shipyards like the ‘corner garage': former Navy acquisitions chief
Shorter, more frequent, better-planned availabilities are needed to reach the Navy's 80%-deployability goal, Guertin said.
Defense Systems
America’s ‘Iron Dome’ is going to need a lot more sensors: NORTHCOM
But a key part of the sensor integration could be done in less than a year with proper funding, the leader of U.S. Northern Command told lawmakers.
Policy
Congress wants the Army to start collecting more open-source intelligence
A 2025 NDAA provision encourages procuring OSINT software.
Threats
Army aviation was having a bad few years—even before Wednesday’s crash
The service’s fiscal 2024 mishap rate was the highest since 2007.
Policy
Army secretary nominee talks drones, recruiting, and lawful orders at confirmation hearing
Driscoll has bipartisan support from the Senate Armed Services Committee.
Policy
Hegseth stands up anti-DEI task force
Some of the task force’s targets, like quotas and discriminatory promotion policies, don’t exist.
Policy
Army's hurry-up force-design ideas are due in March, chief says
Planners are working against a six-month deadline to recommend force-structure cuts and unit reconfigurations.
Business